The Source of the Hadith that Declares the Story of the Nafs’ Being Chastened

Could you please tell me where I can find the story of the nafs when Allah (swt) asked who it was and then burned and starved it to chasten?

Answer:

The hadith that you asked in your question is mentioned in the Quranic commentary Called “Risala-i Noor” written by Badiuzzaman Said Nursi . This hadith is declared to be narrated by “Osman bin Hasen el-Havbevi” in his book called “Durrat al- Waizin” on page 25.

As the original text of the hadith is long, we’ll just quote the part referring to your question:

The translation of the hadith says:

“When Allah created the intellect, He said, "O intellect, come forward," and it came forward. (Then He said.) "O intellect, go back!" and it went back. (He then said,) "O intellect who am I," and it said, "You are Allah, the Lord of the universes." ….